Cyprus Electricity Authority (EAC) customer service centres will remain closed to the public until April 16 while moving all services provided by the power utility online.
EAC’s announcement follows the government decision to place the country in lockdown as of 6 pm Tuesday in an attempt to stem the spread of coronavirus.
According to the EAC, consumers will have access to EAC services either electronically or by telephone.
Services concerning applications for new customers, connections, disconnections and transfers are to be provided by email and fax.
Bills can be paid using a credit or debit card through the EAC website www.eac.com.cy, via the free EAC mobile app or banking online.
According to the EAC, the electronic payment of the bill requires the EAC account number and the exact amount, which are on the invoice.
Payment can be made both by direct debit and by e-banking remittance, whereby it is necessary to note the EAC account number on each invoice.
The details of the EAC bank account for payment are:
Bank of Cyprus
Swift: BCYPCY2N
No. Account: 357005097083
IBAN: CY87002001950000357005097083
Clients who are unable to pay their bills online can settle their account by telephone, this can be done by calling the customer service centre using a debit or credit card.
The service centre can be reached at 1818.
For more info see https://www.eac.com.cy/EN/EAC/NewsAndAnnouncements/Pages/default.aspx
In comments to the Financial Mirror, EAC’s press officer Christina Papadopoulou, said the authority’s aim was to provide electricity to households and businesses without interruptions.
She said if people find themselves in financial difficulty and cannot settle their bills, the authority will do its best to accommodate them.
“The authority will be looking into these cases with understanding, aiming to find a solution and not leave families in difficulty without electricity at a time of crisis.”
She argued that the authority cannot guarantee there will be no disconnections due to unsettled bills, as “the authority will have to continue its operations, which means that it will have to be in a position to keep buying fuel to power its stations”.
Papadopoulou reminded that EAC is doing its best to help households in a time of crisis and has decided to apply a 10% discount on bills for two months.
The discount was announced earlier this month to help households and businesses hit by COVID-19.
This does not include VAT and the special levies for renewable energy.
The decision will be reassessed before the two months are over depending on developments.
For consumers who pay on a monthly basis, the discount will apply on the bills reflecting consumption at the end of March 2020.
For those who pay every two months, the discount will be reflected for consumption counts as of 1 April.